


Lessons In Love

by trashycatarcade



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cellist Keith, Fluff, M/M, Mutual Pining, very little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-16
Updated: 2017-05-16
Packaged: 2018-11-01 16:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10925286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashycatarcade/pseuds/trashycatarcade
Summary: Keith begins tutoring young cellists, but his student happens to be the younger sibling of a certain Lance. Keith and Lance develop a friendship that both parties hope becomes more.





	Lessons In Love

Keith was great at talking to kids. He got along with them easily and especially knew how to handle kids with bad attitudes, let’s just say from previous experience… okay, yes he had a terrible attitude growing up that he could still pull out when he needed it. That’s why he agreed to tutor younger kids in orchestra. Not only did he genuinely enjoy it, it would be nice to put on a college application, considering he wanted to pursue music.  He also had to admit that he could use the extra cash, college wasn’t exactly cheap.

 

Keith never really had a lot of free time outside of school, private music lessons and out of state competitions and concerts filled his schedule. He knew what he wanted to do with his life by the age of eleven and wasn’t ready to give up on his dream. Keith had made friends with a few of the people he frequently worked with or was in the orchestra program at his school, but other than that he didn’t have time to be going to events that would give the opportunity for socializing. Maybe the socializing part was kind of Keith’s fault too… He got kind of nervous talking to new people.

 

When Keith was assigned to his student, he was completely oblivious to the fact that her last name was the same as one of his peers. Keith received the address of said student in his email and a schedule of meeting times he was supposed to approve. He got all the dates straightened out and felt quite accomplished. He was actually kind of excited to start tutoring, along with nervous. He had high hopes that their first practice together would go smoothly. He only had a week of anticipation before then.

 

…

 

That week seemed to pass too quick for Keith’s comfort, he guessed he just was too busy and occupied to notice that it was the day until about an hour before he had to be at his student’s house. Keith had decided he wasn’t going to bring his cello to the first lesson, it would be too much of a hassle and he really hated transporting his baby. Yes, his cello was his baby and no one would convince him otherwise. Too much lawn mowing and dog walking money went into his Knilling cello and goddammit he was going to call it his baby if he wanted to. Keith followed google maps on his phone and parked in front of a brick, two-story, house with a couple bicycles thrown haphazardly in front of the porch. Keith walked up to the front door slowly, feeling more nervous than excited.

 

What if this girl was really bratty? Or she didn’t like Keith? Or.. okay, wow, Keith needed to calm down a little bit. He realized the amount of stress he was feeling right now would make sense for a first date...not his first tutoring session with a twelve year old.

 

Keith rang the doorbell once and took a moment to check the time on his phone while waiting. The door was thrown open and Keith’s eyes shot up to the culprit… or shot down. A young boy stood in front of him, he was missing a shirt and his knees were covered in dried mud.

 

“Hi, I’m Riel, what’s your name?” The boy asked with a toothy grin and before Keith could answer, a another boy ran up behind Reil and scooped him up. Oh… Keith knew this guy?

 

“You’re here for Marina’s cello lesson right? Sorry, Riel is just starting to get into his obnoxiously outgoing stage, don’t mind him.” He said. Keith nodded. Why couldn’t Keith remember this guy’s name? “Oh, hey we have Calc together don’t we? Keith, right?”

 

“Uh, yeah? I think… um…”

 

“Lance.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I totally knew that.” Keith laughed, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

 

“It’s okay, I’ll show you to Marina’s practice room.” Lance smiled and set a squirming Riel down and opened the front door wider to let Keith in. Lance lead Keith through the house and down to their basement. Lance pointed to the shut door to his right, saying something about not being allowed to go in there because he didn’t want to be punched in the throat again? Keith was suddenly glad he didn’t have siblings.

 

Keith knocked on the door and it flung open a few moments later. A short girl with dark brown hair pulled into a bun, wearing large glasses and holding a cello bow stood in front of him, a look of anger on her face that immediately softened.

 

“You’re Keith!” She exclaimed, he smile widening.

 

“Yup,” Keith replied.

 

“Well, c’mon, it’s not everyday someone other than me is allowed in this room!” Marina beckoned Keith into the small room, light up by multiple, mismatched lamps and christmas lights. It was about the size of a closet and had a little desk, two chairs, a stand, and, of course, a deep brown cello.

 

“Admiring my practice room? I forced my parents to let me use this storage closet down here as my practice room last year so no one would barge into the room while I was practicing.” Marina laughed and slid one of the chairs over to Keith. He sat down in it while she sat in the other chair.

 

“I like it.” Keith said sincerely, “It’s good that you have a space to practice where you won’t get distracted.” Marina nodded in agreement.

 

From there Keith asked Marina to play the scales she knew, her favorite piece, and the current piece she was working on to get an idea of how she played. To say the least, Keith was impressed. Marina had a lot of passion and potential for her age.

 

Their lessons only lasted an hour and the time passed faster than Keith imagined it would. Marina showed Keith out and she made him promise to play for him sometime soon. The pair met up every Thursday after that, Keith became more comfortable with Marina (he was no longer scared of her crying if he made any criticism), and he loved seeing her improvement. Lance was always the one to greet Keith at the door, they would talk for a few minutes before Keith went downstairs to the practice room. Keith learned that Lance was a flirty person, he was overconfident, and, Keith would take this to his grave, but sometimes Keith would have to take a minute to let the blush on his cheeks die down before knocking on the practice room door.

 

...

 

Keith’s promise to Marina was being kept sooner than Keith thought it would. He hadn’t realized that one of the junior symphony solo nights was on a Thursday and when Keith told Marina he was going to have to cancel their lesson, Marina called for a field trip instead. Keith gave Marina the information for his performance with the caution that solo night ran late, that it was a school night, and that he wasn’t even that great. She was quick to shut him down and tell him she would be there no matter what.

 

No matter what meant Marina forcing Lance to take her and sit through the concert. Every so often Lance would make a remark about how bored he was to Marina, but she couldn’t keep the smirk off her face when she noticed Lance’s posture straighten and his mouth fall slightly agape when Keith walked on stage in a black dress shirt rolled up to his elbows, tailored black dress pants, and his hair tied back a small ponytail. A chair had been brought out for Keith, but the stand from the last performer had been removed.  

 

“Where’s his music?” Lance whispered to Marina.

 

“He doesn’t need it, he mesmerized his piece.” She quietly replied with a roll of her eyes.

 

Lance opened his mouth to respond but his attention was pulled to the stage as Keith’s first note rang out. Keith held Lance’s attention for the eight minutes of the piece. Keith’s movements were fluid and precise, at times Keith’s eyes would shut and at the climax of the piece, Lance swore Keith was going to break his bow. Lance stood up to clap for him when Keith finished.

 

When all the performances were completed, Marina told Lance they couldn’t leave until she got to see Keith. After a good twenty minutes waiting in the lobby of the building, Marina spotted Keith walking out of a set of double doors with another one of the performers who also played cello. Marina bolted over to Keith without any kind of warning to Lance.

 

“-and you would’ve been rolling around on the floor laughing if you had seen Lance watching your performance. I loved it but Lance’s “kid in a candy shop” googly eyes really brought the whole thing together. I think Lance eve-” Lance was not happy to hear the end of his sister’s half of the conversation. Keith hoped his face wasn’t as red as it felt. Lance would say the feeling was mutual.

 

“Marina! It is way past your bedtime! We need to go home before we are both murdered by Mom.” Lance exclaimed, cutting Marina’s sentence short.

 

“Aww Lance, you knew our deaths were set in stone about an hour ago anyways! Two more minutes won’t make a difference.” Marina frowned at Lance and returned to a smile when she turned back to Keith. “Anyway, awesome performance, I am now your number one fan and vow to go to as many of your concerts as possible. Okay, bye now, nice to meet you Shiro, you were great too!”

 

“Bye Marina, see you tomorrow Lance,” Keith had called after the retreating pair.

 

“So… Lance, huh?” Shiro had laughed and Keith had grumbled a “shut up” to him, his face reddening more.

 

…

 

The following day, Keith approached Lance for the first time in their shared calc class and Lance already knew what was coming before Keith opened his mouth.

 

“So, someone really liked my solo last night…” Keith smiled and Lance groaned.

 

“Marina was exaggerating! Everything she says is a lie and she is the spawn of the devil.” Lance crossed his arms and Keith giggled. Lance almost lost his shit right there and then. Keith giggled!

 

“Okay, okay, sure.” Keith laughed and returned to his desk on the other side of the room.

 

…

 

Keith and Marina’s practices continued smoothly the following weeks and Keith was extremely happy that he had decided to tutor Marina. Her first concert of the season was coming up in a few days, so their focus had primarily been on her concert pieces… which wasn’t always fun. Marina was playing the bass part for one of the songs and there was a lot easy rhythms and boring notes in it.

 

“Can I just not practice this one?” She whined and Keith smiled slightly.

 

“It’s good that you’re bored, that means you understand bass clef and ahead of your age level.” Keith said, trying to make light of the situation. If he were in her situation he knew he would've been really angry and annoyed, so he hopes what he said helped at least a little.

 

“I guess, it’s just really lame.” She sighed and flipped the sheet music to said lame song. At that moment Keith had an idea.

 

“Listen, I’m going to run out really quick and ask Lance something, alright? Go over 38-72, that part’s kind of interesting.” Keith said, jumping up from his seat. He headed upstairs and looked around the main level of the house for Lance, but failed to find him. Keith did find one of the other McClain kids, Flor, who was just a year younger than Marina.

 

“Hey Flor, do you know where Lance is, I have a quick question for him.” Keith asked.

 

“He’s in his room, I can show you.” She nodded and started walking to the set of stairs in the next room. Keith followed silently, unnecessarily anxious about seeing Lance’s bedroom. Was this invasive? Should he just wait until tomorrow in class? Too late, they were standing in front of a shut door that Keith assumed was Lance’s. Flor doesn’t even knock, just opens the door for Keith and walks away. Helpful.

 

Keith peers in and sees Lance sitting at a cluttered desk with headphones on. His back is to Keith and he’s bobbing his head along to whatever music he’s listening to. Keith takes the opportunity to look around the room. The walls are painted a pretty cobalt blue and neatly covered in posters of movies and pictures of friends and families. There’s a twin bed in one corner of the room and next to it is a dresser with a few plants on it. Above the bed and dresser is a window that is cracked open to let in a nice breeze. Keith walks slowly over to Lance who has yet to notice his presence.

 

Keith taps Lance gently on the shoulder to get his attention and Lance jumps and lets out a yelp. He knocks over a cup of what appears to be paint water and a couple paintbrushes roll away from him. Lance sets the cup rightside up and quickly grabs the sketchbook that was in front him to keep it from getting covered in the expanding puddle of water.

 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think I would scare you that much!” Keith said loudly, stepping away from the now frazzled boy in the process of pausing his music and taking the headphones off.

 

“No- no it wasn’t your fault, I’m clumsy and my music was way too loud. Really, it’s fine! I’m going to go grab a towel, you can wait here,” Lance sets the sketchbook down on his bed and leaves the room quickly. Keith runs his hands down his face and groans quietly, why him? Why did these things happen to him? Keith took notice of the open page of the sketchbook in his time of misery. It was a detailed drawing of a girl Keith recognised from his lang and comp class; Allura. It was really good, but was a reminder that Lance was into women, he was attracted to pretty girls. Keith barely had time to register that what he was feeling was jealousy before Lance returned to soak up the spilled water. Why was Keith so upset that Lance liked girls? Keith feared his emotions.

 

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t even painting so that cup shouldn’t have even been there.” Lance chuckled as he cleaned the spill. Keith nodded and looked to the ground, still feeling a bit responsible.

 

“Um, so I had a question… I really want to show Marina how proud I am of her improvement over the past two months, but I don’t really know what to do… I was thinking I could get her flowers for like after her concert but, is that like weird? For me to get her flowers or-” Keith rambled on, keeping his eyes trained on the floor.

 

“She would love that so much! Oh my god, that is such a nice thing to do, you really don’t have to do that.” Lance was a bit shocked by what Keith had just said. Lance never had realized how considerate of a person Keith was, how caring he was for other people. Lance tried to control his feelings of attraction for Keith in this moment.

 

“I know, I just wanted her to know that she’s doing a really good job, ya’know? I don’t know if you realize this, but your sister is a really good cellist, and kids really need encouragement and positive feedback for them to know how special they are. Cellist are kind of under-appreciated when you’re in elementary and middle school because they play a lot of the rhythm parts and fill in the background for a lot of pieces. It gets better at my level and when you’re doing solos, but it kind of sucks at her level. I just really want her to hold onto the passion she has right now and I’m going to try my best to help her do just that.” Keith explained, a little embarrassed to be admitting this to Lance. He knew that was a lot to dump on Lance, but Keith kind of hoped that Lance would be inspired to be supportive of Marina.

 

Lance was going to punch Keith for making him feel this way. Why was Keith so cute? Why did Lance have to keep learning new things about Keith that were only making Lance like Keith more and more? Like that Keith was unfairly attractive with his hair tied back. Or that Keith was good at teasing people in a way that made you know he didn’t mean it in a mean way. And that Keith was way more caring and kind than Lance had ever imagined.

 

“Um-wow, that was- I think she would really like that,” Lance told him.

 

“Okay, thanks Lance, sorry about that water.” Keith smiled and walked out of the room and back to the practice room where Marina was waiting for him. She didn’t say anything about the light blush on Keith’s cheeks.

 

…

Tuesday, tonight was the night! Keith was excited to see Marina play with her orchestra, he hoped they did good. He felt a bit of nostalgia walking into the junior high school, remembering his time at the school. Keith remembered the concerts held in the gymnasium of the school, parents sat in the bleachers and the orchestra occupied the floor space, sectioned off by grades. Keith arrived a little early to the school and unfortunately he was stopped by his past orchestra teacher who asked him if he wouldn’t mind helping with tuning before the concert. He reluctantly agreed, knowing if he said no he would come off as completely rude.

 

He was stuck in the orchestra room helping the kids tune up until they all started filing out to get to the gym and find their seats. Marina had stuck by Keith’s side the entire time, gossiping about the other players in her grade and showing him off to her friends while he helped a few kids here and there tune their instruments. He wished her good luck before they parted and he made his way up the bleachers to find an unoccupied seat. He ended up having to sit in the top row.

 

Lance had spotted Keith walking up the bleachers and he had asked his Mom if he could go keep Keith company during the concert. She agreed but made him promise not to talk during the concert. Lance held back a laugh, as if Keith would let Lance talk during any of the kid’s songs. When Lance sat down beside Keith, Keith smiled appreciatively at Lance and thanked him for sitting with him. It physically pained Lance how nice looking Keith was when he smiled.

 

The concert went smoothly, Marina was in seventh grade so her grade orchestra went in the middle of the concert. Keith and Lance clapped loudly and cheered after each of her songs. In any other setting Keith would have been a bit more respectful, but school orchestra concerts before high school were not super professional and Keith wanted to embarrass Marina a little. After the concert ended and the students were dismissed to pack up their things and families were invited to wait in the lunchroom to wait for their children, Keith hurried out to his car to get the flowers he had bought after school for Marina.

 

He went back inside the school and went to the lunchroom to wait with all the other families. Lance had found him and dragged him back over to his family to wait with them. Lance had four other siblings besides Marina; Flor who was twelve, Mateo was nine, Riel was 4, and he had an older half-sibling named Carlota who was in college but had come home that weekend and stayed for Marina’s concert. Keith had awkwardly stood, clutching the small bouquet of irises, beside the whole McClain family who were chattering amongst themselves. Riel was complaining about wanting to go home and Mateo and Flor were arguing about who was going to get to ride home with their parents or Carlota.

 

Eventually students started drifting into the lunchroom to find their parents and people started leaving. Marina walked in with a group of girls Keith recognized from earlier in the night. She hugged the group goodbye and strolled over to her awaiting family. Her eyes had widened at the sight of the bouquet and she ran up to Keith. He handed her the flowers, congratulating her on how well the concert went and she flung her arms around Keith in a hug. He was not prepared for that in the slightest and Lance snickered at the surprised look on his face. Marina released Keith from her grip and started raving about how much fun she had to her parents. They started walking out and Keith walked beside Lance up until he needed to go in the opposite direction to get to his car. Marina and Lance stayed beck and Marina said goodbye to Keith and thanked him for the flowers before running off to catch up with the rest of her family. Lance remained.

 

“Thanks again, for doing that for Marina. I know she doesn’t always get the attention she deserves because of how many kids there are in our family and that was a really good thing of you to do.” Lance said seriously and grinned. Keith’s cheeks reddened at the compliment and before he could try to brush it off, Lance stepped forward and hugged Keith. Lance needed to work on his impulse control. Lance had almost immediately pulled away right after, but it still was enough for Keith’s flush to spread to the back of his neck and to the tips of his ears.

 

Lance said his final goodbye and started running off in the direction of the rest of his family, who Keith could barely see all piling into two cars in the darkness of that Tuesday night. Keith pulled himself together enough to get to his car and drive home. He collapsed into bed that night still thinking about Lance.

 

…

 

Keith was freaking out a little bit… okay, he was freaking out a lot. He had an audition for a solo in the upcoming Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra concert and he really needed it. Not a lot of cello solos come up in the pieces the orchestra played and he knew this would be really helpful for his networking. He felt bad though because Marina was getting ready for the solo-ensemble competition she signed up for and he knew she needed him to help her. He could use the extra time on Thursday to practice with his own private teacher, but he wasn’t just going to throw Marina under the bus.

 

He helped her straighten out a tricky part in the piece and gave small critiques on things while she played, he felt too distracted to actually be helpful. Keith tried to give Marina his full attention, yet his mind kept drifting off to his audition on Saturday afternoon. He was going to have to drive two hours to get into the city with his cello, he still had some paperwork to finish filling out, and-

 

“Keith!” Marina said loudly, getting his attention. Guilt hit Keith like a wave.

 

“Sorry.” Keith apologized, running his fingers through his bangs and pushing them back.

 

“Thinking about your audition?” She asked and he nodded in response. “You can leave early today, solo-ensemble isn’t for another week and a half, I’ll be fine.”

 

“No, it’s okay. I’m good.” Keith shook his head.

 

“Go home or I will kick you out of my practice room and Lance can tell you, that is not a fun experience.” Marina said, a look of deadly seriousness in her eyes. Keith gave in and she smiled. After Keith left, Marina subtly hinted that her tutor was feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed to Lance. Marina, after all, was not blind to the two boys mutual pining.

 

…

 

The next day in calc, Lance made his way over to Keith’s desk during their work time. Their teacher barely spared them a glance before continuing with something on her computer. Keith set his pencil down and looked up at Lance.

 

“Marina told me about your audition, Saturday right?” Lance asked.

 

“Yeah.” Keith nodded.

 

“How are you?” Lance replied and Keith decided to give Lance an honest answer instead of fine.

 

“One hundred and twenty percent stressed and dead a little bit. I’ve been up late every night for the past week practicing and I’m mostly running on caffeine pills… which, I know you don’t know my parents but if you ever meet them don’t tell them I have caffeine pills, that would not end well for me. I also am pretty sure caffeine pills makes my anxiety worse but that’s just a sacrifice I’m willing to make right now.” Keith sighed and rubbed his face a little. That was a bit too much information.

 

“Oh, well that doesn’t sound fun.” Keith glared at Lance for that comment. “You’re not going to stay up late tonight though, right?”

 

“Nope, I have to be up at around eight to get ready and I’m leaving for Seattle at around nine thirty-ish, auditions start at one and I don’t know what number I am.” Keith explained.

 

“You’re going alone?” Lance questioned, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

 

“Yeah, I’ve been going to auditions and stuff alone since I got my license, my parents don’t really have time to be driving me around all the time and my Dad’s out of state right now anyways.” Keith shrugged. Lance didn’t like that answer and it made him think back to Keith’s talk of encouragement and support.

 

“I’ll go with you.” Lance blurted out and Keith looked at Lance hesitantly. “I mean, I could drive you there so you could sleep in the car if you need to, or not, I could just keep you company and maybe give you moral support.”

 

“Um, why?” Keith wondered.

 

“B-because, I want to? I don’t know, I want to be there for you.” Lance said quietly, he cursed himself when he felt his face start to heat up.

 

“O-okay, I can pick you up tomorrow.” Keith stuttered. Lance smiled brightly and that only made Keith’s face redden too.

 

“Oh, I realized that I don’t have your number,” Lance mentioned and pulled his phone out from his back pocket. Keith got the cue and passed Lance his phone that had been sitting on his desk. Lance gave Keith his phone and he entered his number and name into the new contact. They traded phones back and smiled at each other.

 

Lance returned to his seat and Keith felt a small amount less stressed than he had before.

 

…

 

Keith practiced his piece for a few hours that night before attempting to go to sleep. His nerves and anxiety kept him up for a while, though thinking of Lance helped calm him down a little. Keith realized that he didn’t know Lance super well. He knew some basic things about Lance but he wanted to know more. Keith couldn’t deny that he thought Lance was attractive, he liked Lance. Lance was way out of Keith’s league though. Lance was outgoing and knew how to make friends and talk to people. Keith just knew his cello.

 

He had Shiro and Pidge, though. Keith had looked up to Shiro since fourth grade when they had morning practice together. Shiro was a year older and also played the cello, he already knew how to do vibrato! That was the most impressive thing ever to Keith, but also extremely intimidating. Keith would try and sit near him before rehearsal just to hear Shiro working on his own pieces. Keith didn’t end up being friends with Shiro until they were both in middle school and were in the same youth symphony. Pidge was part of the tech crew for the concerts at Keith’s high school and they some how were introduced after one of the concerts, Keith can’t quite recall a time after that when Pidge wasn’t in his life.

 

Keith also was almost positive that Lance was straight. Keith tried not to assume things about people, he tried to base things off fact. He had seen Lance with girls, specifically Allura who Lance knew well enough to be drawing in detail. Even if Keith got to know Lance better and they did become good friends, Keith accepted that he wouldn’t ever have a chance with Lance.

 

…

 

Keith parked in front of the familiar brick house on Saturday morning and texted Lance that he had arrived. He waited for a few minutes before Keith heard the sound of a door slamming, he looked up to see Lance walking towards his car. Keith couldn’t hold back the small grin that broke its way onto his face. Keith registered how happy he was that Lance was coming with him.

 

“Hey,” Lance greeted Keith as he climbed into the passenger side of the car. Keith said a “hello” back to Lance and watched Lance fasten his seatbelt.

 

Lance got settled into the seat and dropped his backpack onto the floor space in front of him. Keith shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. The clock read 9:34 and Keith praised himself of his time management of the morning. Lance absentmindedly reached for the radio controls, going to turn the music up so he could actually make out what was playing.

 

“Sorry, my phone’s just on shuffle, you could take the aux chord if you want.” Keith offered and Lance shook his head, no.

 

“It’s fine, I want to know what you listen to anyways.” Lance answered and was a little surprised that the music playing wasn’t classical. He had just assumed that because Keith played classical music for orchestra he would listen to it. Lance was more surprised to learn that Keith listened to old punk bands and a mixture of new emo and pop punk bands.

 

“You really can just put on whatever you want, not a lot of people like this. Shiro always complains when I play my music.” Keith said after about fifteen minutes had passed. He couldn’t imagine that Lance likes his loud semi-heavy music. A song by Dead Kennedys played through the speakers and Lance shrugged.

 

“I don’t mind it, Allura surprisingly has dragged me to a few concerts when she didn’t have anyone to go with. She’s really into this type of music so I’m kind of used to it.” Lance explained and Keith felt a twinge of jealousy. Lance obviously liked Allura and if she was inviting him out with her, she probably liked him too. Keith tried to ignore these intrusive thoughts.

 

“You can have the aux on the way back.” Keith settled and Lance nodded. “So, what were you planning on doing while I’m auditioning?”

 

“I brought my travel size paint set and I am probably going to just sit outside and paint,” Lance answered.

 

“You can come into the building and stuff before the auditions start. We’re getting to the building about an hour before the auditions start and it only takes me about twenty minutes to get my cello set up.” Keith said.

 

“Oh, I thought I wouldn’t be allowed to go in or something… This all just seems really professional and all, I mean, you’re wearing a tie right now.” Lance motioned to Keith’s attire and Keith laughed.

 

“I guess, I don’t know, I think I’m no longer fazed by what’s involved with these auditions. I have to give my best impression to the conductor and the director of the symphony, but you aren’t. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone other than other students backstage and in the practice rooms so if you were to be there, no one would even notice. You’re not exactly allowed to be there… but I don’t think anyone would know either way,” Keith glanced over at Lance a few times while speaking and Lance had to consciously try not to stare at Keith. It wasn't Lance’s fault that Keith was attractive!

 

…

 

The drive seemed to pass quickly, Keith thinks it's because of Lance's skill of conversation. Keith wasn't amazing at starting conversations, but Lance was a social butterfly and liked talking. Lance was also aware that a long car ride was a good way to get to know someone. There was time to kill and Lance asked Keith questions about himself. Keith replied in short answers that Lance accepted because it was better than nothing.

 

They arrived at the music hall and Keith parked in an empty spot in the parking lot. He had tried to get a spot near the front so he wouldn’t have to carry his cello far, but the parking lot was nearly full already. Lance slung his backpack over his shoulder and offered to carry Keith’s music for him. Keith unloaded his hard cased cello and the pair walked in together. Keith had to give the secretary some paperwork he had filled out that involved his info and then Keith led Lance to the one of the practice rooms assigned for the auditionees.

 

The room had about ten other people in it, which was good for Keith because only four others had cellos and the others had violas. Solo auditions for the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra usually involved two instruments, unless it was violins. Keith knew all of the other players there that day, usually the same people auditioned for solos when there was one in their section, the people confident enough to try. Keith said hello to a the few people he passed by to get to the back corner of the room. Keith pulled up two chairs after setting his cello down, one for him and one for Lance.

 

Keith unpacked his instrument and answered questions Lance had about the auditions. Keith rosined his bow and pulled his favorite red rockstop out of his case. Lance of course had questions about these items and Keith happily answered them. Keith appreciated that Lance seemed genuinely interested in the things he was asking about, he wasn’t just making polite conversation.

 

“Do you memorize the piece for your audition? I was literally so impressed when you played without any music at that solo night concert. That was like ten minutes of music just memorized and that’s just crazy!” Lance said excitedly. Keith had almost forgotten Lance had seen him play before.

 

“It was only seven minutes, and yes, I did memorize my audition music.” Keith blushed.

 

“Don’t be modest dude, I wish I could memorize stuff like that, I could really use that for calc formulas.” Lance laughed and Keith smiled at the compliments.

 

“It’s really nothing, the notes just kind of get stuck in your head after practicing them so much,” Keith shrugged. Lance wasn’t fooled though, he knew how talented Keith was and how much hard work he put into his music.

 

They still had about an hour before auditions started and the other kids around them were going over their pieces and other warm-up things. Lance worried that he was a distraction to Keith, but Keith told him that he didn’t want to start warming up too early. Lance really hoped that Keith did well on his audition.

 

“Are you nervous?” Lance asked finally, done beating around the bush.

 

“Yeah, a bit. I’ve been stressed about this all week and now it’s finally here. I know I know the piece, I can play it perfectly, but playing a song isn’t only about getting the notes right. You have to have the right emotions to play it, you have to be able to portray what the piece is trying to say. All music tells a story, and musicians are the storytellers. I need to have the right tone, be able to make others feel what the mood is of that section. I can’t be nervous while playing, that’s not what the piece is about. Whenever I audition for something, I feel like I could have a heart attack right before I start, but then I lose myself and find the right feeling I need for the time.” Keith spoke passionately. Lance listened intently, enjoying one of the few moments that Keith really opened up to him.

 

“I get that in a way, the emotions part. When I’m painting or drawing, I do it with the intent to make someone feel a certain way. My piece should reflect what I want, otherwise I’m doing it wrong. It could be the most beautiful thing in the world, but if it doesn’t mean anything, it loses something.” Lance elaborated. Keith’s heart surged, Lance understood exactly what he meant.

 

The time was getting away from Keith, he had only twenty minutes to go over a few scales and run through the piece a few times. Lance listened to Keith practice and he gained more confidence that Keith was going to get the solo.

 

Those twenty minutes were the fastest twenty minutes in Lance’s life. At 1:00 PM sharp, the secretary that Keith first met with came into the practice room and posted a list on the door giving the order of auditions. Keith was the last of the cellos auditioning, giving him another half hour, give or take before his audition.

 

Keith fidgeted anxiously beside Lance. He watched as each cellist left for the stage and came back. Finally, it was Keith’s turn. Lance wished Keith luck with a smile as he left for the stage. Keith took a few deep breaths backstage before he was in view of his conductor and the director of the symphony. Keith walked out onto the stage, he set his rockstop down, and took a seat. He settled his end pin on the rockstop and took the time to say hello to the pair.

 

“Glad to see you’re auditioning Mr. Kogane, whenever you’re ready,” His conductor said and it made Keith feel a little bit less anxious.

 

He took one final deep breath and his bow struck the string. Keith played in triumph and with his heart in the open. Keith didn’t look up to try and decipher his conductor’s or director’s face. He focused on the notes, on the piece, and on Dvorak’s emotions. His audition was over before he knew it. His conductor gave him a nod and excused Keith. Keith gathered up his cello, bow, and rockstop and walked back to the practice room. Lance was sitting at his same chair, scrolling though something on his phone.

 

The door shut loudly behind Keith and Lance looked up from his phone. He grinned at Keith and Keith couldn’t help but smile back.

 

“Do you think you’ll get it?” Lance asked immediately.

 

“I hope so, that was the best I’ve ever played the piece, but I know some of the other people who auditioned are really good too.” Keith replied and started packing his things up. He loosened his bow and set his cello in his case. He finished up quickly, not wanting to keep Lance waiting too long.

 

“It’s still pretty early in the day…” Lance trailed off, raising his eyebrows in a suggesting way.

 

“What are you suggesting?” Keith chuckled.

 

“We could get some lunch?” Lance offered and Keith felt his heartbeat pick up. Keith knew Lance wasn’t implying where his mind had gone straight to. Lance was probably just hungry and didn’t want to wait another two hours before he ate. Not a date, just a friendly lunch.

 

“O-okay, do you have an idea of where you want to go?” Keith and Lance started walking out of the practice room and through the building towards the doors.

 

“I kind if feel like a sandwich, how ‘bout you?” Lance looked over to Keith expectantly.

 

“I don’t know, sandwiches are fine,” Keith shrugged. They reached Keith’s car and Lance helped Keith load his cello into the backseat. Lance insisted strapping the cello in with the seatbelt and Keith couldn’t help but laugh at that.

 

They drove around for a bit, looking for somewhere to eat. They spotted a little sandwich shop at the end of a side street that didn’t look too busy. It was good timing because it was in between lunch and dinner. Keith had explained on the ride over that Lance would just have to go in and get the food without him, he couldn’t leave his cello alone in the car due to the chance of it being stolen. Keith told Lance what he wanted and Lance went into the small shop, but not without waving to Keith before slipping through the door.

 

Keith smiled to himself at the gesture. His phone buzzed from it’s place in the cupholder and he picked it up. He had a few unread texts from the couple hours. His phone had been on silent while he was at the audition and he hadn’t read the texts when he had turned it on vibrate. There was one from his mom asking him how the audition went. He replied with a simple ‘fine’. Then there were three from Pidge teasing him about Lance, which Keith purposely chose to not reply to. Then there was a text from Shiro also asking him how the audition went. Keith wrote a longer reply to Shiro, mentioning the few mistakes he believed he had made and that overall, he thought he did pretty well.

 

Keith set his phone back in the cupholder and leaned back in his seat. He was glad the stress of the audition was over, the announcement for who got the solo would be sometime next week. Keith closed his eyes and let himself relax. Lance would be a few more minutes, so Keith let his mind drift. The day had been really good so far. Keith was worried that Lance would get bored or regret coming with. Keith feared Lance had only come along out of pity and politeness. He wasn’t sure why Lance was being so nice to him, he had no obligation to be. Obviously they had to act somewhat decent to each other through their connection over Marina. Keith hoped Lance wasn’t bored, he hoped Lance wouldn’t think of the day as a waste because Keith didn’t feel that way. He was overjoyed that Lance was spending time with him.

 

Keith is startled out of his thoughts when Lance opens the passenger door with a paper bag of food and two drinks. Keith had previously let Lance know what he wanted and given Lance money for his food. Keith tried to act like Lance hadn’t just scared him half to death.

They talk and eat their food at a slow pace and start their trip home after about forty minutes. Like they agreed, Lance chooses the music for the drive back, a flurry of pop songs. Lance obviously knows the words to every song and even gets Keith to sing along to a few that he recognizes. The trip takes shorter than Keith thinks it should, even though Lane made Keith stop at a 7-Eleven so he could buy snacks. Keith argued that they had eaten lunch an hour before, Lance ignored him and came back with a bunch of sour gummy candy. Lance teased Keith for eating some of it after his previous reaction to Lance getting snacks.

 

Keith dropped Lance off at his house at about 6:30 and they said a short goodbye. Keith watched Lance walk up the steps to his front door, and a blush spread across his cheeks when Lance turned around and waved before going inside. Keith waved back, he doubted Lance saw him though, the sun had gone down a while earlier. Keith drove home with a silly smile glued to his face.

 

…

 

A week passed, Keith and Lance chatted in their shared calc class, and they saw each other when Keith met with Marina on Thursday. Keith was told he would know the chosen soloist by the following Thursday and he was nervous as hell. Keith tried to distract himself with schoolwork and the other pieces the symphony would be playing for the concert, but he couldn’t help checking his email more often than usual.

 

When Keith was younger he hadn’t been the best player, he got frustrated easily when he couldn’t reach the right tempo, or when he couldn’t get the fingering correct. He tried out for solos but he didn’t actually get one until he was thirteen. Since then, he had almost gotten every solo he tried out for. He supposed part of the reason that was was that Keith only tried out if he was really passionate about the piece which of course led him to obsessively practice it. All the practice led him to near perfection. Keith wasn’t sure why he was so nervous, he thought he had done really well.

 

Keith was once again distracted by his thoughts of the solo when he was attempting to go to sleep Sunday night. He was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone pinged, a notification sound that signalled an email. Keith blindly reached for his phone on his bedside table and winced at the brightness of the screen. His breath caught in his lungs when he saw the sender; Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. His fingers fumbled to open the email and his heart raced.

 

_Mr. Keith Kogane,_

 

_I appreciate your interest in the solo for our upcoming December concert. I regret to inform you that you have not been selected for the soloist position. I encourage you to audition again when the opportunity arises. I hope to continue to see your eagerness and enthusiasm towards the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra._

 

_Signed,_

 

_Director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra_

_Joaquim Dos Santos_

  


Keith wanted to cry, well, he did cry. It hit him in a way that he wasn’t expecting, he knew it wasn’t guaranteed that he would get the solo, but he had been thinking in the mindset that he had. He was sure he was going to get it. Keith tried to ignore the tears sliding down his face, leaving wet trails on his skin, and attempted to sleep through his emotions. He would try again when the opportunity arose. Keith held on to a thread of confidence.

 

Keith stayed home from school the next day, his Mom convinced his Dad that it was fine. He slept in late and the afternoon sun woke him instead of an alarm. His Mom had left a note on the kitchen reading that there was leftovers in the fridge for lunch. Keith was laying on the couch, mindlessly watching netflix when his phone pinged. Keith cringed at the noise, it reminded him of last night. It was a text from Lance asking him where he was. If Keith were in school, he would currently be in calc. Keith replied that he wasn’t feeling well and stayed home. There was no response from Lance.

 

Keith’s heart clenched, Lance had a strong effect on Keith. A simple text from Lance made Keith feel as though Lance really cared about him. Keith knew he couldn’t get his hopes up, he was just projecting and the text was meaningless. Lance was probably just bummed that he didn’t have someone to compare answers with. Keith ended up falling back asleep on the couch, only to be awoken by his doorbell ringing. Keith glanced at the oven clock on his way to the front door, 4:43 P.M.

 

He opened the door and was stuck in a moment of confusion. Lance stood on his doorstep, carrying a takeout bag and with a wide grin.

 

“Hey…” Keith greeted Lance.

 

“Hey! You said you weren’t feeling well, so I.. well I picked you up some soup from that one cafe on the corner of Oakwood and 4th. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked your friend Shiro for your address because I realized I didn’t actually know it. Which is strange because- I’m rambling sorry, here.” Lance offered the bag to Keith and Keith took it.

 

“I feel really horrible now.” Keith sighed and it was Lance’s turn to be confused.

 

“Did I do something wrong? Do you not like soup? I’m sorry…” Lance said quickly and Keith frowned.

 

“No, no it’s not you. I’m not actually sick, I just didn’t feel up to going to school today and I told my parents I was sick, so I just kind of went along with it. I’ll pay you back for the food.” Keith explained.

 

“No, it’s fine, my friend works there so I got for free.” Lance smiled, “But, anyways, is there a reason you skipped school? You don’t really seem like the type to just ditch.”

 

“I didn’t get the solo, it pissed me off.” Keith admitted. He was a bit embarrassed, he sounded like such a sore loser.

 

“That sucks dude.” Lance said sincerely and Keith nodded. “Well, since I’m here, want some company?”

 

“Um, sure.” Keith replied, surprised by the offer. He stepped back to give Lance enough space to walk through the doorway.

 

“Shoes off, or?” Lance asked and Keith answered with a simple “off”. Keith lead Lance to the kitchen and he set the bag on the counter. Keith actually happened to be hungry so he opened the container of soup, that happened to simply be chicken noodle. Lance was idly chatting about what Keith had missed in calc. Keith was half listening and half freaking the fuck out. Lance had found Shiro, asked for his address, and brought him soup. Keith was pretty sure he had died a little bit.

 

“-eith? Keith!” Lance almost yelled and Keith jumped a little.

 

“Sorry, what?”

 

“I asked if you wanted to watch a movie.” Lance repeated.

 

“Yeah, sure. I have netflix so…” Keith had to mentally slap himself for thinking the phrase ‘netflix and chill’. Keith showed Lance where the living room was and passed him the remote. Keith had already been watching netflix, so all Lance had to do was scroll through the options. He pointed out something every so often and asked for Keith’s opinion as he ate his soup. Keith finally just said that he didn’t really care what Lance put on.

 

Even though the movie was playing, Lance couldn’t stop himself from chatting with Keith. He asked Keith questions about himself and Keith kind of felt like they were playing a game of 20 questions. Keith finished the soup and set the empty container on the coffee table in front of him. He leaned back on the couch, Lance had all of a sudden become very focused on the movie and had stopped talking. Keith snuck a few glances at Lance, he tried to focus on the movie, but honestly Lance had trash taste in movies. Even though Keith had slept in and taken a nap, his eyelids started to feel heavy, he could barely keep them open.

 

…

 

Keith jerked awake to the sound of his phone ringing. He grabbed his phone and answered the phone without checking the caller i.d. Keith glanced over to Lance, who had also fallen asleep and was slowly sinking to where Keith had been.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Keith dear, I’m not going to be home until about ten tonight and your father told me he wasn’t staying at the office overnight.” His mother’s voice was a shrill awakening. Keith simply mumbled an “okay” and listened to her talk complain about her day for a few minutes. He looked over to Lance who was still asleep and a realization dawned on him. He had been leaning against Lance while he was sleeping.. And Lance had been leaning against him. He got his mom off the phone and turned to Lance’s sleeping figure. The movie had ended and the credits were upon the screen. Keith checked the time on phone, it was half past seven.

 

Keith hesitantly poked Lance’s shoulder a few times and Lance grumbled incoherently. Keith took to gently shaking Lance and he shot up, which would have been fine had Keith not been leaning towards him. Lance’s head smashed into Keith’s nose and Keith yelped and fell back onto the floor.

 

“Ohhhh my god! Are you okay?! Holy shit I did not mean to do that!” Lance exclaimed and fell onto his knees in front of Keith. Keith clutched his throbbing nose and clenched his eyes shut.

 

“Is it bleeding? Is it broken? Are you okay? Lemme see!” Lance blabbered. Keith reluctantly uncovered his nose and Lance’s hands were instantly on him. One hand was under Keith’s chin, tilting his head to different angles to examine the damage,and the other rested on his shoulder. Keith’s nose hurt and his face felt hot from the close proximity that didn’t seem to even faze Lance. Lance gently prodded Keith’s nose and Keith winced.

 

“I don’t think it’s broken. Does it hurt a lot?” Lance asked quietly and Keith nodded.

 

“I think I’ll be okay,” Keith said. Lance’s hands were still on him and Keith hoped Lance couldn’t hear how fast his heart was pounding. The moment all of a sudden felt heavy, but fragile. Lance’s eyes moved up from his nose to Keith’s eyes.

 

“I- I’m really sorry, I didn’t mea-”

 

“I know, it’s okay.” Keith interrupted him. Lance’s hand on his chin drifted so that it was now almost cradling his cheek. He swore Lance was starting to lean closer, his eyes flickered down to Keith’s lips and back up to his eyes. Keith’s eyes fluttered closed and he felt Lance’s breath against his lips. Their lips barely brushed against each other when Lance’s phone went off. It startled them both and Lance’s nose bumped into Keith’s and Keith’s hand flew up to his sore nose while Lance scrambled to get his phone that had fallen out of his pocket on the couch. Lance answered the phone and mouthed sorry to Keith.

 

“What?” Lance sighed and Keith recognized the voice on the other end of the line to be Marina’s. He could make out bits and pieces of her sentences, the gist of it was that Lance needed to come home and that his Mom was mad that he didn’t tell her he was going to be out for so long. Lance finished the call and looked over at Keith, who had moved so he was sitting on the couch.

 

“I gotta go, my mom’s pissed.” Lance laughed a little and Keith nodded.

 

“I’ll walk you out,” Keith walked ahead of Lance, who followed slowly. They reached the doorway and Lance slipped his shoes on while Keith leaned against the wall opposite to him.

 

“I’ll uh, see you Monday,” Lace said, “Oh, and make sure to ice your nose, okay?”

 

Keith nodded and mumbled a “bye” as Lance walked out the front door. Keith stood in the doorway, watching Lance walk to his car. He stood there for a while, even after the rearview lights of Lance’s car were out of sight. What the fuck had just happened?

 

…

 

The week passed slowly for Keith. He was still pretty bummed about not getting the solo and he was feeling confused about Lance. Keith was too socially awkward to approach Lance about the almost kiss that took place on Friday and Lance was yet to bring it up. Keith knew Lance must have regretted it, if not that what else? It made Keith feel rejected even though Lance never explicitly said he didn’t like Keith, Keith knew that that was what Lance was thinking.

 

As much as Keith like Marina, he really didn’t want to go to the lesson on Thursday in fear of having to see Lance more than he already did in calc. He was hesitant to get out of his car when he got to the McClain house, but his opportunity to just drive home was gone when Marina opened the front door and waved at Keith. He sighed, got out of his car and walked up to the door where Marina was waiting for him. They said their hellos and went down to Marina’s practice room, where Keith started her on scales. They went through their practice routine smoothly, only being stopped when Keith had a compliment or critique. The time went quicker than Keith thought it would and all of a sudden Marina was packing up and Keith was gathering his few things in his bag.

 

“Hey um, Marina… i-is Lance here right now?” Keith asked as nonchalantly as he could.

 

“No, I think he’s over at Allura’s right now.. Why?” She narrowed her eyes and Keith gulped. He ignored the twinge of jealousy that ran through him at the mention of Lance being with Allura.

 

“N-no reason, I just had a quick question about calc but I can just text him when I get home. No big deal!” Keith forced a smile and Marina looked zero percent convinced.

 

“Is this about whatever happened on Friday?” Marina questioned. Keith nearly choked, what did she know about Friday?!

 

“What do you mean?” Keith looked over at Marina now, who was looking at him expectantly.

 

“Lance was being all mopey over the weekend and he called Carlota like five times on Friday night because she kept hanging up on him when he got too whiney. He was at your house on Friday, so I’m assuming that something happened.” She explained vaguely. Keith wanted to crawl into a hole and die. He really made Lance that uncomfortable? Lance was probably trying to figure out how to avoid him, which he had been successfully doing since Friday.

 

“Nothing, nothing happened.” Keith said firmly. Marina reluctantly accepted Keith’s response and she walked him to the door. He said goodbye quickly and rushed home to do homework and distract himself from the Lance situation.

 

…

 

“Please help me, I don’t know how to deal with this!” Lance said into his phone, Carlota sighed on the other end. She had better things to do than listen to her brother talk about his crush.

 

“I’m going to say this one more time Lance, and I’m going to say it really slowly so you take this to heart. Talk. To. Him. Talk to him! What’s the worst this kid could do besides tell you he’s not interested? Which I highly doubt from what you’ve told me. Just go up to him tomorrow and explain yourself and how you’re feeling. Very simple. Now don’t call me again until you’ve taken any initiative to deal with this.” Carlota hung up on Lance without even letting him get another word in. Lance huffed and fell back onto his bed, he was going to take Carlota’s advice.

 

…

 

Lance was acting more strange than usual in calc that day. He kept fidgeting in his seat and peeking over at Keith and then whipping his head away in the other direction when he got caught. Keith gave him a few questioning looks from his behavior but other than that Keith tried to just ignore it. The bell rung and as he was shoving his binder into his backpack, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Keith zipped his bag and then looked up at Lance, who stood in front of him looking unusually nervous and sheepish.

 

“Could I.. um… walk you to your next class maybe?” He squeaked and Keith simply nodded, his eyes wide at the uncharacteristic way Lance was acting.

 

“I’m in astronomy next, in the F wing.” Keith told Lance and he answered with a nod. They walked side by side quietly while the people around them in the halls chatted loudly. Keith just wished that Lance would spit out whatever he was going to say already.

 

“About last Friday… I never wanted to make you uncomfortable or anything. I shouldn’t have tried to kiss you because I didn’t even know if you wanted me to and that’s not cool! I get if you want some space… or for me even to just leave you alone. I was just thinking about myself and what I wanted to do and didn’t even stop and ask myself whether you would be into that or not. I’m just really sorry Keith.” Lance said, looking away from Keith. Keith openly stared at Lance, a look of disbelief across his face.

 

“Are you serious?! You- You thought that I didn’t- Lance! Lance I like you! A lot! I thought that you regretted Friday and that you didn’t want to be friends anymore.” Keith couldn’t stop the smile that spread upon his lips. The bell rung signalling the start of the next period, but both boys ignored it.  

 

“I don’t want to be friends Keith…” Lance paused and dipped down closer to Keith’s ear. At this point the pair had stopped walking and were leaned against some lockers. “I want to be boyfriends.” He whispered.

 

“You scared me for a minute there.” Keith hit him in the chest and laughed. Lance blushed and grinned. He leaned closer to Keith and pecked him on the cheek.

 

“Fuck that, I’ve waited too long for this.” Keith grabbed the front of Lance’s sweatshirt and pulled him into a kiss that lasted a little bit longer than it should have… considering they were already late for class. They parted with promises to meet up after school and one more quick kiss.

  


**Author's Note:**

> This was half inspired by me binge watching Mozart in the Jungle and half inspired by me missing orchestra. I played violin for about seven years but my knowledge on cellos is minimal. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes, I only read through this twice before posting it.. Thanks for reading!


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